I will fight until I am reinstated as Head of Mwisho wa Lami

After many months away from school, the day to go back finally arrived last week. I had initially planned to return on Wednesday 18, as recommended by the doctor. As of Monday evening, that was the plan.

However, I received exclusive and privileged intelligence that there could be some elements bent on causing havoc. These elements were youths paid by enemies of development led by Kuya, and their brief was to carry twigs, placards, and other paraphernalia to stop me from entering school.

Initially, I ignored this as it was all part of a plan to instill fear, something I had refused to buy into. But after receiving the same intelligence from three sources closer to the real source, I listened and decided to stay away.

That day, I stayed at home, monitoring the situation. From there, I heard how the youth assembled at Hitler’s to be charged for the day. They arrived as early as 8am, anticipating my arrival around 8.30am.

They then went to camp in homes near the school, others hiding in farms near the school, ready to appear from nowhere the moment I arrived. They waited and waited.

Unbeknownst to them, one of them was my boy, and he was sending me regular updates.

“Usijaribu, ni kubaya na tuko wengi,” he texted me. “Na wamelewa hawajui wanafanya nini.”

My contact told me that the youths eventually got tired, and by 11am, they were getting sober, making it difficult to do anything.

One of them said that I might come in the afternoon, so they all went back to Hitler’s to recharge, in readiness for the job. Too bad for them – I did not leave the house.

My contact later said that a dispute arose in the evening after Kuya refused to pay for the drinks they took at noon, and also refused to pay for the day, saying they did not do anything.

I arrived in school early

“Your job was to shout that Mwalimu must go, you did not.”

My contact told me that it would be safe to come the next day.

I was in school very early on Thursday, arriving before any teacher. A few students were already in school, some excited to see me while others were unhappy.

Anyhow, I spent the morning walking from class to class to ensure there was silence.

The first teacher to arrive was Sella. She was very shocked to see me and did not know what to do. Immediately, she went on the phone, and I needed no calculator to know that she was informing other teachers.

She did not even greet me. The next to arrive was Lena, her terrible hair in tow. Although she greeted me, it was a very cold greeting; she did not even look at me.

Alex and Nzomo arrived later and did not seem to notice my existence and went on with their job as usual.

Soon, a prefect came to open the HM’s office, and I entered. I had thought that I would not be allowed to enter this office, but I was surprised that it was open and that I was let in.

Most of what I considered critical items were not there, including the official school rubber stamp. Anyway, I sat there mulling my next move.

I noticed something. When she arrived, Nzomo, the acting Deputy HM, had not gone to the Deputy HM’s office. Instead, she had sat with other teachers in the staff room. That was strange.

Kuya arrived around 10am, did not greet me, and went straight to the Deputy HM’s office, from where he called Nzomo and Alex for a meeting that lasted long.

Being bored and having nothing to do, I left the office to walk around the school.

As expected, the order reigned as I walked around the school. Any class that had been noisy went quiet as word spread that I was moving around.

Missing 'Headmaster' sign

It was when I walked back to the staff room that I noticed something strange. There had been a “Headmaster” sign on the door to my office before, but this time it was missing.

I wasn’t sure if it had been there when I arrived in the morning, but it seemed strange for the sign to be missing.

On the deputy office, the “Deputy” sign had also gone but had been replaced with a “Head of Institution” sign.

Indeed, what was being communicated was that Kuya was the head while I held no role.

That explains why the teachers had been ignoring me. I walked to Kuya’s office straight. There was him and the immediate former acting Deputy, Nzomo.

“How are you today?” I started.

No answer. You could see Nzomo wanted to talk, but she was clearly under instructions not to.

I asked why the headmaster’s sign had been removed from my office, and why critical elements like the rubber stamp were missing, but Kuya said nothing.

I left the office. I decided to have a staff meeting that afternoon. I informed all the teachers who were in the staff room, and even informed Kuya and Nzomo.

“I am not happy with many things and we need to change – and fast.”

Appointed the acting HM

Mrs Atika, Anita, and Mary had also arrived.

At 2:30pm, the time scheduled for the staff meeting, I was surprised to see every teacher leave for a lesson, including Kuya and Nzomo.

Only Lena remained. We could not hold a staff meeting of two.

“Don’t take it lying down, fight,” she told me, saying that all teachers had been warned not to even talk to me.

I confronted Kuya when he came back from a classroom.

“Thanks, but I cannot answer any of your questions,” he answered calmly.

“I was appointed the acting HM for this school and Nzomo the deputy,” he said.

“There has not been any contrary information to change this. If you have any problems, take it to the TSC, not me.”

He added that he was just doing his work.

I immediately left school, and you could hear murmurs from the classrooms as I left.

The next day I looked for the sub-county TSC director. As she was missing, I went to Kakamega to visit the TSC offices.

Despite waiting for long, I did not manage to speak to any senior TSC officers. They all seemed to ignore me.

I will be back there tomorrow, and if I do not get help, I will go all the way to Nairobi. I will not take this lying down – not me!